Summary: Sundays were designed by God for us to meet with Him, to be touched by His presence, to hear His Words of Life and to find rest! It is designed by God to be the best day of our week! It’s a day to honor God for what He has done for you the other 6 days of

Thesis: Sundays were designed by God for us to meet with Him, to be touched by His presence, to hear His Words of Life and to find rest! It is designed by God to be the best day of our week! It’s a day to honor God for what He has done for you the other 6 days of the week! It’s also a day of rest where we get to refuel, refresh and refocus!

This sermon was adapted and directly taken from “I Love Sundays sermon week 2 curriculum by Outreach some of the quotes from it are not noted in my message”

Introduction:

Question: What do you Love?

I love God

I love my wife

I love my kids and grandkids

I love vacation

I love boating

I love being outdoors

I love _______________ you fill in the blank!

Turn to the person next to you and tell them 1 thing you really love!

If you worked at answering this question awhile, I’ll bet you all could come up with a list of a hundred or so things you love. But I’m not sure if you’d think to include our series “I Love Sundays” on your list.

This is why we are doing this series: I LOVE SUNDAYS!

Barna Report on the city of Chicago:

Sadly this week I got the latest survey from Barna research on Chicago’s spiritual/soul condition as of this year 2015:

The report reveals the following about the soul of Chicago:

Chicago ranked the highest in the Midwest as one of the most secularized cities – secularized means:

• Secularization refers to the historical process in which religion loses social and cultural significance. As a result of secularization the role of religion in modern societies becomes restricted. In secularized societies faith lacks cultural authority, and religious organizations have little social power.

• 13% of the population of Chicago is considered secularized compared to the national average of 12%!

Church Attendance in Chicago land area according to survey has dropped dramatically!

• Only 39% of the people in Chicago go to church weekly!

• Only 11% of the people even go 1x a month!

• Only 11% go once every 6 months!

• 32% do not attend church at all today when they once went!

• 7% have never attended church!

Volunteering at church has also dropped dramatically

• 15% of the population volunteer at church. Means only half the people who attend church weekly help out at church.

Interesting facts from the survey of Chicago were:

o 56% say they are absolutely committed to their Christian faith.

o 37% say they are moderately committed to their Christian faith.

o By the way that = 93% of the people of Chicago land! BUT

Some other interesting facts from the survey of Chicago in 2015 (all participants):

o 64 % say they have made a personal commitment to Jesus!

o 54% say Jesus committed sins!

o 61% say good works get you to Heaven!

o 60% say the Bible does not have accurate principles!

I found another graph from Barna doing a survey about how Americans see themselves today:

How Americans see themselves from the year 2000

• Totally committed to getting ahead in life 2000 69% today 57%

• Concerned about the future 2000 64% today 77%

• Lonely 2000 12% today 20%

• To Busy 2000 46% today 34%

• Happy 2000 92% today 82%

• In serious financial debt 2000 13% today 16%

• Trying to find a few friends 2000 31% today 37%

• Stressed out 2000 29% today 35%

Our goal, over these few weeks, is to change your perception of Sunday so that your life is better the rest of the week. And we are praying that you will say “I Love Sundays!” because they make for better Mondays and the rest of the week!

Can we say it together “I Love Sundays!”

So why is Sunday so important in the rhythm of life? The Bible tells us exactly why it is so important?

13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD’S holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, 14 then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.” The mouth of the LORD has spoken.

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son and daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals…

Sundays were designed by God for us to meet with Him, to be touched by His presence, to hear His Words of Life and to find rest! It is designed by God to be the best day of our week! It’s a day to honor God for what He has done for you the other 6 days of